Concerning the wizard and her spells

[Edena_of_Neith]

There were two interpretations of Tempus Fugit.
The first interpretation took the spell text (from Unearthed Arcana 1st Edition) at face value, and ONLY the text. No extrapolations. This version of Tempus Fugit was merely a powerful spell, in my opinion. (You can still find this version in print. It is in the Hackmaster's Player's Handbook.)
The second version of Tempus Fugit took at face value the spell text and all extrapolations of the text: the consequences of that text. This produced a Super Spell. It became the most powerful 5th level spell in the game.
I allowed the second version in my game, but my players had to be aware of the danger of enemy spellcasters and spellcasting monsters using the same spell. They most certainly WOULD use the Super Spell, just as the gleeful powermongering players would. (After all, if the players want to use superspells, one way to balance that is to have the monsters throw superspells back. Of course, the campaign world may well be totally trashed in the process ...)

If you allowed the 2nd interpretation of Tempus Fugit, it altered your game world, for magic became a much more formidable force. Even most teenaged DMs back in the old days thought this version of the spell was broken. Older DMs thought it was demented. Even the most power hungry Power Gamers gaped at it.
In the very conservative world of D&D today, with D&D 3.5 the current incarnation of the game, I must wonder what words in the English Language exist, that could describe the power discrepancy of Tempus Fugit, versus the regular game spells? I doubt any such words exist. Nor would I wish to speculate on the verbatim that would be used by current DMs to describe the Super Spell known as Tempus Fugit.
But here it is anyways. This is the extrapolated version, the Super Spell version. Read and weep.

TEMPUS FUGIT (Illusion, and possibly Chronomancy)
5th level
Range: 0 - Components: V, S - Duration: 50 turns/level in 3E (50 minutes per level)
Casting Time: 1 standard action - Area of Effect: 10 foot radius - Saving Throw: None

This spell creates a quasi-real warping of time within it's area of effect (no saving throw is allowed against this effect, but spell resistance could allow the particular creature with the SR to ignore the distortion.) Technically, this spell is considered an illusion spell, and it's effects on time illusory, but the result is too real and too powerful to be mere illusion. Chronomancy is highly suspect here.

After this spell is cast, a globe 20 feet in diameter centered on the caster (and which moves with her) is created, and within this area time seems to be altered.

For the caster and all within 10 feet of her, everything outside seems to be - and to a quasi-real extent are - moving 6 times slower than normal. Thus, while 6 hours pass for the spellcaster and those around her, and objects within the area of effect, only 1 hour passes for everyone and everything outside.
The spell duration counts time passed 'outside', so if the spell lasts 50 minutes per level, it lasts the equivalent of 300 minutes - or 5 hours - per level for the caster. Thus, a 10th level caster creates a Tempus Fugit that lasts 500 minutes - or 8 hours, 20 minutes - outside, but it seems to her and those in the area of effect like 3,000 hours - or 50 hours, or 2 days, 2 hours - have passed.

The spell can be reversed, so that to the caster and those around her, everything outside the area of effect is moving at incredible speed, while they carry on normally: that is, everything outside is moving 6 times faster than the caster and those with her. In this case, the apparent passing of one hour for the caster would be 6 hours for everyone outside. In this case, the spell still lasts 50 minutes per level of the caster: a 10th level caster would create a Tempus Fugit that lasted 8 hours, 20 minutes, but to her it would only seem like the spell lasted around 83 minutes. For her, 83 minutes would have passed, while 8 hours, 20 minutes passed outside the area of effect.

The spell affects the caster and those with her in real ways. They eat, drink, sleep, and age at the speeded up or slowed down rate. Mundane items and objects within the area of effect are likewise affected.
Thus, in the speeded up version (where the caster is moving 6 times faster than the world around her) the caster can eat, sleep, rest, regain spells, repair weapons and clothing, study, and otherwise do anything she likes ... at 6 times normal speed.
The caster could get a nice 12 hour period of sleep, while only 2 hours passed in the world outside the spell effect. She could then spend 6 hours regaining spells, while only 1 hour passed in the world without. She could then spend 6 hours studying historical lore, while only 1 more hour passed without.
The mage could spend 6 days recovering from the effects of a wound or broken bone, while only a day passed in the world without.
Theoretically, if cast repeatedly in the speeded up version, Tempus Fugit could shorten the life expectancy of the caster to 1/6th normal.

In the reversed version, this spell makes for great life extension, assuming the caster wishes to remain by herself. If this spell were cast a sufficient number of times in sequence, the caster could pass through the entire 6 month cold season of northern Faerun, and to her it would only seem like a month had passed ... and she would only have aged a month.
It is theoretically possible a mage could live to 6 times her normal life expectancy, if she remained constantly under the effects of the slowed down version of Tempus Fugit.

If the mage decides to speed herself up sixfold ... she would see and hear everyone and everything within the Tempus Fugit normally, but no speech from outside could be understood (a Tongues spell might remedy this problem.) All other sounds from outside would come off as impossibly deep and slow to the mage and anyone else within the Tempus Fugit.
From the point of view of those outside the Tempus Fugit, the mage and others within the Tempus Fugit would be screeching very high pitched gibberish. All other sounds coming out of the Tempus Fugit would be extremely high pitched and distorted (again, a Tongues spell might help matters.)
To those within the Tempus Fugit, everything outside would seem to be travelling in slow motion (akin to a slow motion camera effect.) An arrow in flight would seem to lazily drift along. Rain would fall slowly to the ground, making fantastic shapes on the ground as each drop struck. Insects and birds would painstakingly move inch by inch, foot by foot, each flap of the wings clearly discernable. The mage - if she were also a fighter - could critique a slow motion sparring match between two swordsmen.
To those outside the Tempus Fugit, the mage would appear to be moving so quickly as to be blurred, some sort of being of impossible speed (the hummingbird comes to mind here.) Everyone else within the Tempus Fugit would likewise be moving either very quickly or so quickly as to be a blur.

-

IF this is as far as Tempus Fugit is taken, it is MERELY a very powerful and very useful spell, for the purposes of rest and recovery, healing, study and spell recovery, and fascinating study of the world around the mage. And, of course, it makes for a good way to hibernate through the winter, and otherwise affect life expectancy!

But ...

Because Tempus Fugit does allow for real effects, such as hit point recovery, sleep and it's restorative effects, spell memorization, and so on, it can be concluded that this spell affects combat.
And if this spell affects combat, then all bets are off. Period. You can just take the normal game mechanics and flush them down the toilet, as something close to utter desecration of the game occurs. Of course (chuckles) powermongering players just might want to enact that desecration, so that they can kill the dragon and take his treasure! They must remember, that perhaps the dragon - too - intends such a desecration.

In 2E terms, if the mage is speeded up sixfold, she gets SIX FULL ROUNDS of action for every one full round of action taken by her opponents, so long as they remain outside the globe of the Tempus Fugit.
The mage can throw SIX SPELLS to her opponent's one. She can fire SIX arrows to opponent's one. She could conjure six times, while her opponents could only enact one conjuration. She could activate rods, staves, wands, and miscellanenous magical items six times to her opponent's one activation.
Needless to say, the mage is likely to win Initiative. The DM must make a house rule to determine when the opponents of the mage get to go, compared to the mage's six actions.
The opponents of the mage get no Dexterity bonuses to Armor Class, obviously. They don't get a lot of things, under a lot of circumstances, each of which must be considered individually.

If the 2E mage can hurl multiple attacks (such as hung spells from a Mantle, Contingency Spells, Aglarth's Embattlement (which let you throw 2 spells at once, for 3 consecutive rounds) and so on) or multiple melee attacks (such as a fighter/mage with specialization, who can fire 4 arrows a round) or if the mage and/or others were Hasted) the result of the 6x Tempus Fugit is nothing short of ... well ... ghastly.
Now, take this extrapolation to 3rd edition.
In 3rd edition, there are multiple ways for mages to cast more than one spell per round. Quicken Spell will do it. The Two-Minds spell will allow it. Extra Quicken Spell will allow it (as many times as that Epic Feat is taken.) Other Feats may allow it.
In 3rd edition, mages are often able to fire arrows or other missile weapons. Many Feats and classes and prestige classes allow it, and allow for multiple shots.
Add in the 6x effect of Tempus Fugit, and Houston, We Have a Problem.

Obviously, the mage must practice throwing spells and missiles, to be effective. This is because although the spells and missiles seem to work normally for her within the globe of the Tempus Fugit, they slow down to 1/6th normal speed outside it.
Thus, the mage must calculate: not a normal arrow shot or bolt fired from a wand, but calculate the slowed movement of the target, plus the slowed movement of the arrow and/or spell and/or item effect, plus the fact that for the first 10 feet, the arrow/spell/magic effect moves at normal speed.
A mage can learn such adeptness, and after considerable practice can fire arrows, spells, and item effects without penalty (but the very first time she tries this stunt, the result is going to be something out of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.)

What goes for the mage, goes for anyone else making attacks from within the Tempus Fugit to outside of it.

The hapless creatures outside the Tempus Fugit suffer a huge penalty to hit the mage and others within the Tempus Fugit with arrows and tight (bolts, etc.) spell effects, because those within are seemingly moving so fast. The DM must arbitrate what this penalty is, although it will be severe (- 6 or more.) Area effect spells and spells that automatically hit like Magic Missile will still work.
But now it gets really wierd. A Fireball detonating in a Tempus Fugit would fill it, then expand outside it. The Fireball would normally last about, say, 6 seconds, from the point of view of those outside. But from their point of view now, it would last 60 seconds INSIDE the Tempus Fugit, and 6 seconds outside. Why is this important? Because any arrows or other missiles and/or spell effects hurled at the Tempus Fugit must now contend with the Fireball that is still going on inside the Tempus Fugit!

If someone outside the Tempus Fugit manages to FULLY get inside, he can engage the mage in normal combat, all 3rd edition melee rules applying.
But ...
It is likely the mage will be defended by others within the Tempus Fugit, who will MELEE with those outside the area of effect, and prevent them from entering.
In this case, there is a constant situation of swords, spears and/or other melee weapons, wands/staves/rods and/or miscellaneous magical items, and arms, hands, and/or other parts of people being within the Tempus Fugit momentarily, then outside, then in again, then outside, then in again, while the same is true of those they are fighting.
In this bizarre situation, only those PRACTICED in fighting in this fashion (I'm guessing it'd be a Feat in itself) can operate normally. Anyone else is going to be hopelessly lost, as part of their sword moves at 6x normal speed and the rest at normal speed, while their inthrust leg moves at 6x speed and the other leg is moving normally, and so on.

Since part of the sword given above is moving at 6x speed and the rest is moving at normal speed, shouldn't the sword fly apart into two pieces? What about arrows? What about assorted hands, feet, arms, and legs? What about a person half in and half out of the Tempus Fugit? The answer to this question is: it's up to the DM! If he says yes, the result might well look like a meat grinder or Blade Barrier. If he says no, then ... well ... those swords and arms and items are going to look really wierd and distorted as they seem to stretch and bend in impossible contortions. (In my case, I said no ...)

The complicated and precise combat rules of 3.5 must be suspended and effectively rewritten to cover the effects of a Tempus Fugit, if Tempus Fugit is used for combat purposes.
Just take all the rules, throw them out the window, and start over. The overwhelming advantage goes to the mage, obviously, and to those with her. Unless the foe also has a Tempus Fugit, their sixfold attacks are likely to carry the day.
Since this spell stays up a real, real long time, the DM might as well throw the whole dungeon module out the window while he is at it, give the players ALL the experience and treasure immediately, and go get himself a nice beer. Then, he can sit and contemplate the insanity of it all, while he weeps over the arbitrary destruction of his 8 hours of work on his beautiful dungeon.

Edena_of_Neith

EDIT:

If the mage has the spells Melee Manager and Magic Manager (from the Chronomancer Sourcebook, extrapolated to 3rd edition) these STACK with Tempus Fugit.
For anyone who does not remember, Melee and Magic Manager allowed multiple spells to be cast per round (in 2E, where only ONE spell per round could normally be cast) and/or multiple series of attacks could go off in one round (your whole attack routine plus a boatload of additional attacks.))
Thus, a mage with Magic Manager and Tempus Fugit up would throw somewhere between 6 and 30 spells per round in 2E. In 3E, with it's Quickened Spells and Epic Feats, a truly powerful mage (say, 20th level) might throw 20, 30, 40, or 50 spells in a single round.
Add in hung spells, from Mantle, Contingency, Algarth's Embattlement, the Simbul's Spell Supremacy, and so on, and ... well ... I don't know what the World Record is for the most spells thrown in a single round, but we're getting close to that, aren't we?

This insanity applies to physical attacks. Can we say ... the Lawnmower Effect?

If your group starts throwing Tempus Fugit, Melee and Magic Manager (along with the other ghastly chronomancy spells), Mantle, Algarth's Embattlement, the Simbul's Spell Supremacy, Two Minds, and Haste, all in conjunction, then ...
Put down your dungeon and books, give the players all the treasure and experience, and ...
Go and get yourself a beer and two tylenol, read your book on Rage Suppression (before you kill all of your players), and vow unholy vengeance on those gleeful, evil, powermongering maniacs.
Then go and get every demented gaming supplement you can find with broken spells in it, find out how to stack all of them in evil, demented ways, pile them ON TOP OF what your players connived up, then let em have it!

The Evil Edena_of_Neith

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

Ah yes, 8th level spells. Powerful beasts. When one considers they have to beat out Prismatic Spray in terms of sheer power, they must be powerful spells indeed.

The Wise will explain that it is most foolish to arrogantly, pridefully challenge a true wizard before you are truly ready, if indeed it is ever possible for you to be truly ready.
The 8th level Flensing spell makes their case. Indeed, it makes their case very well, as many snide, overeager, would be Mage Slayers have learned to their terrible cost.

-

FLENSING (Alteration, Necromancy, Evil)
8th level
Range: Touch - Components: V, S, M - Duration: Special
Casting Time: 1 standard action - Area of Effect: One creature - Saving Throw: Special

This spell has the Evil Component in it, in 3rd Edition.
If Evil is not used in the campaign, then any mage can use this spell, and the force driving it is not evil per se ... although whatever force that DOES drive the spell, is as violent and absolute as the evil described below is.

Employing their understanding of the sweet, viscious, enveloping Dark Magic, evil mages casting Flensing summon the Primordial Magic of Darkness, Pure Magic and Evil Manifest. This black might stuns the very air as it appears, the Weave reels, midnight Darkness roars in thunderous glee and unholy delight, and all the colossal might of power and magic and evil descends upon the hapless victim. Thousands of tiny shards of Pure Magic, Pure Evil, the mightiest of all forces in the multiverse being pure magic - unstoppable, invincible, unassailable and world rending force - tear into the victim, slicing through flesh, blood, and bone; methodically, slowly, and gleefully stripping the flesh layer by layer by layer from his bones, flensing him as an onion is flensed, with incalculable precision and unimaginable cruelty.
With the physical destruction of the victim, layer by layer, comes pain: pain beyond imagination. This is not merely the pain of being butchered, flensed like a carrot. This is the pain delivered by the malevolance of Evil itself, and that malevolance is insatiable, unquenchable, and eternal. So long as the spell lasts, and the victim lives, the pain is delivered, delivered by physical torture and multiplied by Evil, inflicted with delight and remorseless pleasure. Perhaps being burned alive can compare to the pain caused by the first stage of this spell; perhaps it cannot. Beyond the first stage, the pain inflicted by a Flensing would do justice to the devils themselves, and a certain character from the Hellraiser films would bow his head in appreciation.

The Flensing cannot be stopped by most known forces.
Most psionics cannot stop this spell or protect from the pain it inflicts. For psionic effects that might work, compare them with those magical spells that might protect against Flensing.
No mundane effort will avail the victim. Running, immersing oneself in water, sand, earth, stone, or solid adamantite are all gestures in futility. Few known substances will stop the Pure Dark Magic of the Flensing (Krell steel is one of those few, if the character could somehow obtain it ...)
Teleport, Worldwalk, Dimension Door, Plane Shift, Blink, and other such spells are useless. The Flensing will travel with the victim wherever he goes, even if that is into the heart of the Sun, the depths of the Abyss, or the Mists of Ravenloft. The Flensing will continue, it's virulence not stopped, slowed, or appeased by the victim's travails. Even travelling to the Upper Planes will not halt the Flensing, although the intervention of the Planars will, and they will intervene, since the Flensing is an affront of Evil upon their native Planes. (Directly Worldwalking to the Seventh Heaven WILL stop the Flensing spell. But the character will not return, since nothing that travels to the Seventh Heaven ever returns, except for the Angels themselves.)
There are a lot of defensive magical spells and spell-like effects, and most of them are quite useless against Flensing. Mantle, Wall of Force, Fire Shield, Stoneskin ... all of these will fail, and the Flensing will shred a Wall of Force, instantly dispel a Stoneskin, and laugh at the returned damaged caused by a Fire Shield. The Dark Shards of the magic of the Flensing are ever renewed, ever restored, by an endless torrent of Darkness, a cascade of thunderous magic pouring down out of the Weave.
A Limited Wish will not stop a Flensing or the pain it causes (although a properly worded Wish or Miracle spell will.) Such is the power of Flensing that only the mightiest of spells have any hope of defending against it, beyond the power of mere Limited Wishes.
Temporal Stasis and Imprisonment will not stop a Flensing, although they will stop the pain: the Flensing will shred the Stasised body of the victim while his sentience sleeps. Powerful necromantic spells like Hide Life, Lifeproof, Remove Heart, and Stone Form will, conversely, save the life of the victim without mitigating any of the pain. Trap the Soul and Magic Jar will do neither: the Flensing will shred and kill the victim, while using the power of Primordial Evil to send the body's pain to the imprisoned soul (and ALL the pain will be felt by the consciousness of the victim.) Victims somehow caught in Mirrors of Life Trapping and similar items will find the Flensing has entered their prison with them, and although it might not (or just might!) be able to harm their bodies it can certainly still inflict it's pain on them.
Contingency is not powerful enough to ever protect the victim from the pain inflicted by Flensing, although the victim's life might be saved. Chain Contingency is strong enough to halt the pain and save the victim's life, if properly done. Either way, the Flensing chases the victim wherever the Contingency spells take him, and it continues it's ghastly work on the victim thereafter. If further help, or clerical healing, or something else reasonably potent, is not available, even a Chain Contingency is unlikely to save the victim at that point.
Clones and Stasis Clones will activate after the Flensing spell is finished with the victim. One must stress the AFTER part, because Flensing does not kill quickly: it's Dark Magic prevents death through shock, death through massive damage, and prevents normal unconsciousness (not that normal unconsciousness would help - the Flensing would direct the pain into the inner part of the mind, striking at the fleeing consciousness), and in all ways works to keep the victim alive as long as possible, so that the greatest possible suffering can be inflicted, and every last cut of the Shards of Darkness can be gored across the red ruins of what was once the victim's body, before death finally arrives as a mercy and a blessing. (In 2E terms, the victim remains alive and fully aware, to - 10 hit points, whereupon death is instant.)
Note that passing into Temporal Prime will not protect against a Flensing spell, which will simply chase the hapless chronomancer into that Plane, and travel up and/or down the timestream with him.
Needless to say, being incorporeal, astral, ethereal, out of phase, or anything else of that sort will be totally useless against a Flensing spell, once the mage touches the creature and sets off the spell (or, if she has obtained a Ranged Touch attack via Feats, then a successful Ranged Touch attack from the mage!)

Spell Resistance works normally against a Flensing spell, and if successful dispels it before it can attack.
The Srinshee's Spellshift, 10th level, will stop this spell instantly, and/or protect against it. The 9th level phaerimm spell Mystic Sphere will also halt this spell, if the Flensing was directed at the caster of the Mystic Sphere. Time Stop will halt the spell in progress, but it will resume it's work after the Time Stop expires (if the victim is moved in that time, the Flensing will move to the victim's new location.) Prismatic Sphere will protect against a Flensing spell. Many other protective 9th level spells will work, if properly employed (such as Transforming Tune.) Shapechange could enable the caster to assume a form immune to physical damage and pain (such as a Nilbog.) Gate could be used to scream for help from one's diety.
A Dispel Magic can halt a Flensing. Epic Dispel Magic is likely to halt it. Counterspell can halt it normally. Mordenkainen's Disjunction and Eye of Mystra will instantly dispel it. Spell Turning can cause it to reflect back on it's caster. Spellfire will feed on it, dispelling it.
Anti-Magic Shell has a 50% chance of dispelling a Flensing. If it fails, the Shell itself is dispelled.
An Amulet of Life Protection will save the victim, but will not spare him the pain. An Amulet of Proof Against Detection and Location will do better: it will enable the caster to escape via Teleport, Worldwalk, Contingency, Dimension Door, and the like, as the dark magic of the Flensing becomes confused and unable to follow the caster. A Ring of Regeneration (or the spell) will prevent death, but not the pain. An Anaethesia spell (and most other spells that protect against pain under 9th level) will fail, unless it is combined with Mind Blank in which case the victim will be shielded.

Effects:

On the first turn (1 minute) of the Flensing, the spell inflicts no hit points of damage, per se.
It merely horribly disfigures the victim as it inflicts hundreds of cuts across every part of the victim's body. The unearthly pain begins for the victim, and the Evil gorges itself off that pain and the physical and psychological trauma and the gushing blood, growing and flourishing and sighing with delight to the victim's unending screams, evolving into a hideous black cloud of destruction carving up the very air, sending a confused plethora of shocks and blasts of outraged wind in all directions.
Every item worn and/or carried by the victim must make Item Saves versus Disintegration - at the beginning of the turn and the onslaught of the Flensing - or be destroyed, hurled and flung aside in mutilated, tiny, blood drenched little pieces (even items of pure adamantite suffer this fate. Only artifacts and relics are immune.) Those items that succeed in their Item Save remain intact somehow, only to face the second turn of the Flensing and more saves (below.)
The victim can still take actions while under attack by the insane fury of the Flensing spell. However, actions are almost impossible on a normal basis. Basically, all actions are now Epic Actions, as the victim tries to function while being (literally) hacked to pieces. So all actions have a penalty of + 70 on their DC, in addition to any normal DC requirements. Actions that fail as a result of this penalty still result in normal consequences for the hapless victim, on top of the excruciating punishment being inflicted by the Flensing spell. Spellcasting is still possible, but the caster is counted as having taken 70 hit points of damage (every round of the first turn, he is counted as having taken 70 points of damage that round) for purposes of casting spells. Spells that can be cast as Free Actions (hung spells, contingencies, and Quicken Spells) can still be cast normally, without penalty, by the beset victim. Also, the victim can attempt to melee or fire arrows or otherwise engage in attacks, but suffers an overwhelming - 40 penalty to his BAB. Harsh, but that's the fate decreed: It just isn't easy to give battle with the sword, when Shards of Immeasurable Might and Darkness are attempting to flense sword, arm and body all, into fine fleshy scraps and mangled metal pieces.
If the penalties to actions, spells, and BAB render the victim unable to take any action to save himself, that is unfortunate, but that is how it is. There is no appeal. Perhaps the victim should have brought his friends to help him. Or perhaps maybe, the victim should not have challenged the lady mage in the first place.

Needless to say, temporary and/or permanent insanity are possible side effects of this spell, due to the pain. That is, possible side effects due to the pain alone: the physical damage and mutilation, combined with the psychological trauma, are very likely to cause temporary and/or permanent insanity.
The chance for insanity grows steadily with each passing turn of the Flensing spell ...

On the second turn, the Flensing intensifies. The Shards of Evil cut deeper, the Pure Magic rages harder, the shocks and concussions from the spell multiply, and the earth itself groans in outrage. From the Black Whirlwind of Incarnate Carnage come flying assorted pieces of the victim, such as nose, eyes, teeth, ears, parts of the jaw, assorted fingers and toes, and chunks of flesh the size of apples (in the case of Large or larger beings, chunks the size of basketballs.)
The victim sustains 2 to 12 points of damage during this turn (for the entire turn, not per round.) This damage is applied immediately at the start of this, the second turn. The victim may make a Fortitude Save for half damage, which if successful will please the Dark Magic mightily, as this means the victim will live longer. Certainly, no save will stop the attack. This spell is an Autokill Dweomer, and there is no appeal against it's might.
Incidentally, Damage Reduction, even of the + 5 kind, is completely useless against the malevolent fury of the Flensing spell. In no way will it help the victim in any way, including pain reduction. Even creatures that regenerate naturally - even those that regenerate at massive rates, like the tarrasque - will still suffer the dire punishment and horrific pain meted out by the Flensing onslaught.
Any items that saved at the beginning of the first turn of the Flensing, must now make Item Saves versus Disintegrate again, and again failure indicates the shredded remains are spewed forth in red glory. Finis those items, the pieces being widely dispersed from the victim and unrecognizable as to what they original were a part of.
The victim may take action while under attack by the Flensing spell during the second turn, but such actions are even more impossible than during the first turn. The DC penalty is + 90, spells consider 90 hit points of damage (each round, as usual), Quicken Spells and other spells that go off as Free Actions may still be cast, and the BAB penalty is - 50.

During the third turn, the Flensing magnifies ever further in power and punishment. The black cloud of shards, Embodied Darkness and Magic, Evil and Puissance, will blast around the victim like a tornado, sending quakes and shocks in all directions through the ground, emitting small bolts of purple lightning, discharging wild magic effects which will be mild but always horrific in nature, and sending blasts of wind and howling noise out to stun and deafen all nearby (This uproar will be audible a mile away.) More and more power will thunder out of the Weave, shaking and tossing it, sending shocks through it, that will be perceptible for many miles by those with eyes to see and ears to hear.
Now, the innards of ordinary creatures - brains, bone, blood, and organs - will be dispersed in fine sprays of shards and red ruin all around the thunderous tornado that is the Flensing spell. Luckier and/or tougher victims might still only be losing mere appendages or skin. Chunks of large beings the size of halflings will be tossed out of the tornado of Black Shards, only to be chased by rogue Shards and shredded into bite sized chunks before they hit the ground.
The victim sustains 2 to 20 points of damage during this turn (for the entire turn, not per round.) This damage is applied immediately at the beginning of the third turn. Again, the victim can prolong his life - and his agony - by successfully making a Fortitude Save for half damage.
Again, all items that somehow survived to this point must make Item Saving Throws versus Disintegration again, and those that fail are destroyed.
The greatest of heroes might be able to take some sort of action during the third turn. All that is required is to overcome a DC penalty of + 110, spells being treated as if the victim had taken 110 hit points of damage (each round), and a - 50 BAB penalty.

On the fourth turn, the Flensing reaches it's maximum power, raging furiously against the target and the target's life (or unlife, or animating) force, seeking their extirpation.
This is where one sees entire dragons chopped up (as finely as any chef would dice vegetables) and hurled outward in all directions as a red rain. Beings such as black puddings and green slime will likewise be reduced to small pieces and flung outward several tens of feet in all directions, with appropriately disastrous results. Blasts of tiny rocks, like hard hitting sleet, will herald the end of stone golems. Iron shrapnel will rocket out from the ruins of iron golems. From large creatures that regenerate, an unending torrent of gore will rain out, burying everything in several feet of blood, bone, and fragments of flesh. Of course, by now, ordinary people will have disappeared into sleetstorms of red carnage, and not even intact teeth will remain to identify in any way who or what that person was.

The victim must make a Will Save at the beginning of this turn.
If the victim makes this save, he will survive this turn and survive the Flensing spell.
The victim's items that somehow survived up until now must again make Item Saves versus Disintegration or be destroyed. It is likely, obviously, that the victim might survive this spell but be divested of all his items. If this is his fate, then he can say that, truly, flesh is stronger than any adamantite steel ever forged, and he would be proven right.
The victim may also take actions during the fourth turn, if he made his Will Save at the beginning of the fourth turn. All actions have a + 130 penalty to DC, spells consider 130 points of damage, Quicken spells and the like can still be cast, and the BAB penalty is - 60.

If the victim fails his Will save, he is granted the extreme misfortune of surviving this entire turn. Indeed, the gloating Evil Manifest of the spell makes CERTAIN he remains alive and fully aware, during the entire turn. He remains aware of nothing but pain; pain that is beyond the imagination of all but the most depraved of the fiends themselves.
All items that somehow survived up until this point are considered automatically destroyed, with no saving throw allowed.
The victim can take no actions, can cast no spells, can release no Quicken Spells or any other Free Action spells, can make no attacks, and can basically do nothing at all. If he still has enough of a mind left to consider the matter (which is extremely unlikely) he can pray for as quick a death as possible. For him, that death will be long delayed: one minute will seem like an eternity to the victim, before the Flensing finishes with him and his wracked soul begins it's weary trek to the Afterlife.

And finally, after 4 minutes of Fury Incarnate, the Flensing spell will subside.
The quakes will cease, the shocks will stop. The winds will die down, the Weave stabilize as the power flow out halts. The tornado will dissipate, the blackness fade, the malefic evil disperse back to the abyss from whence it came.
With a final howl of outrage and a shriek of protest that will be long remembered as the spell's epitaph, the black shards of force will fade away, and the spell dissipate.
For a long time afterwards, the area will be heavy with leftover magic, an aura of evil, and tremors and disturbances in the Weave. Minor wild magic effects, all of them baneful but mild, will afflict the area for several days to come. The air, the very ground, the Weave itself, will radiate an aura of trauma, as if the scourge of the Flensing struck at them too, and for those with ears to hear, faint moans of pain will be heard from air and ground.
The Flensing spell, will be ended.

Survival for the victim does not come without a price.
The victim must make a Fortitude Save for the effects of the first turn of Flensing. Failure indicates a permanent loss of 1 to 3 points of Charisma. Then the victim must make a Fortitude Save again for the effects of the second turn of Flensing: failure indicates a loss of an additional 2 to 8 points of Charisma. Finally, the victim must make a Fortitude Save against the effects of the fourth round of Flensing: failure indicates the additional loss of 2 to 12 points of Charisma. (The victim's Charisma cannot be lowered below 1 in this way. For every point of Charisma lost, deduct 1 point of Comeliness (if applicable; if Comeliness is used in the campaign) then add any and all penalties for a low Charisma to the new Comeliness score in addition, to find the new Comeliness score of the victim.)
Regenerate and other spells can reverse the loss of Charisma and Comeliness.

At the DM's discretion, the victim must make a Will Save. Failure indicates insanity, possibly permanent insanity. Likely types of insanity that might be produced by this spell are catatonia, schizophrenia, homicidal mania, severe amnesia, and extreme traumatic reactions to any open displays of blades of any sort.
Of course a Heal spell and/or a Restoration spell will cure said insanity, and reduce the memories of the Flensing to manageable, sane proportions.

The mage can elect to halt her Flensing at any time, and send it howling and shrieking back into the Darkness from whence it came.
Whether or not she does so is entirely her decision. Assorted pleas for mercy, agonized screams, confessions of guilt, revealing of information, might or might not convince her to end the Flensing before it shreds the victim into little pieces. Then again, if the victim was arrogant, snide, threatening, and/or harmed the mage, she might decide that nothing short of the victim's painful, slow demise is satisfactory.

The material component for the Flensing spell (if material components are used) is an onion. The mage must peel it back layer by layer, as the spell progresses.

 

[Bront]

Well, in the magic weakened world of D&D 3.5,

I find it interesting that you think magic is weak, when by most accounts, Magic wielding characters have a huge edge over non-casters on the power curve according to many others.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

Whether magic is weakened in 3.5 is a subject for a lot of threads.
Certainly, magic is changed (along with everything else) with the advent of 3E and the d20 system.
In 2E, no mage short of a deity could cast 2 spells in one round. Now, any mage with the Quicken Spell Feat can do it. In 2E, longevity magic was high level, if it existed at all. Now, I hear that in Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed there are plenty of longevity spells.
In 2E, no mage could make a touch spell ranged, with a simple Feat. Now they can. No straight mage could wear armor. Now they can. No mage could take one level in fighter, gaining all the weapon and armor proficiencies of fighters, then progress as a mage. Now they can.
So, who can say if the mage is weakened? In my reference above, I merely refer to the weakening or elimination of a few spells. Of course, as has been pointed out repeatedly, anything from any edition of D&D can be brought forward and used.
Ultimately, how strong or weak magic is, is up to the DM, I'd say.

And now, on to 9th level spells.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

JARAN?S PRISMATIC BLADE (Conjuration/Summoning)
9TH LEVEL (from Dragon #240)
Range: 0 - Components: V - Duration: 1 turn/level (1 minute/level)
Casting Time: 1 standard action - Area of Effect: Special - Saving Throw: Special

It is one thing to unleash great power in an uncontrolled way. It is quite another to hold that power, perfectly controlled and harnessed, in the palm of your hand. Jaran's Prismatic Blade allows the archmagistress (the honorary Faerunian term for a lady mage of 17th level or higher) to do just that.
If you have read Prismatic Spray (7th level, above) you know how terrifically powerful Prismatic Magic is. Jaran's Prismatic Blade summons the same colossal power as a Prismatic Spray does, then contains the many incarnate magics - the seven radiant colors that are manifestations of these magics - within the parameters of a sword of a type favored by the archmagistress (or a specified type of sword, if she desires it so.)

The archmagistress then wields the Prismatic Blade as if it were a normal sword, gaining all attacks she would normally gain with a sword, plus any augmentation to her attacks from items, magic, psionics, and circumstances. For example, if another person cast a Haste spell upon the archmagistress while she was wielding a Prismatic Blade, she would gain any appropriate extra attacks with it, treating the Prismatic Blade as a normal sword for this purpose.
The Prismatic Blade only requires the use of one of the archmagistress's hands (it has a hilt, crossguards, and all, and the grip is as comfortable and firm in her hands as the finest such designed by the greatest of swordmakers.) The archmagistress may use her other hand freely, to take actions, melee with another weapon, or even direct the detonation of a hung (and triggered) spell or Contingency spell.

The archmagistress cannot cast another spell while this one is still in effect. Nor can she employ Quicken Spells. However, Contingency spells, assorted hung spells awaiting triggers, Mantle spells, and other spells of this sort continue to function normally - casting themselves on the archmagistresse's behalf, as it were.
The archmagistress cannot give the Prismatic Blade to another person to use, short of using a Wish to enable such a transfer. Another person offered use of the Prismatic Blade would suffer all of it's effects upon attempting to touch it.
The archmagistress cannot lay the Prismatic Blade down. If she does, it will immediately plummet downward, falling deep into the planet before the spell's duration elapses. The mere rock of planets cannot hope to survive the touch of something as potent as a Prismatic Blade (on the other hand, the archmagistress could lay the Prismatic Blade against the side of a Crystal Sphere, Krell Steel, or the like, without harming them ...)

Effects:

Any creature successfully struck by a Prismatic Blade suffers the effects of ALL of it's seven magics - it's seven interlocking beams of color - all at once. Thus the target struck sustains:
20 points of damage, Reflex Save for half +
40 points of damage, Reflex Save for half +
80 points of damage, Reflex Save for half +
Death by Poisoning, Fortitude Save for 20 points of damage +
Petrification, Fortitude Save for no effect +
Permanent Insanity, Will Save for no effect +
Sent to Another Plane, Will Save for no effect.

Needless to say, Prismatic Blade is likely to quickly kill any creature subject to normal damage, probably on the first hit.
Prismatic Blade will affect all mundane beings in it's path, plus all undead, all constructs, most planars, most monstrosities, and with few exceptions just about everything else in the multiverse (but there ARE exceptional beings who are immune to Prismatic Magic ...)

Size or lack of size has no protective effect. The largest dragon and the smallest pixie will both suffer equally from the strike of a Prismatic Blade, as it's power not only obliterates what is directly touched, but detonates to a lesser extent throughout the bodies of target beings.
Incorporeal beings are subject to all of a Prismatic Blade's effects. Beings in the Astral, Ethereal, and Out of Phase are not subject to it's direct touch and effects, though.
Spell Resistance can protect a target, but will not dispel the Prismatic Blade. Counterspelling works normally. Damage Reduction is useless. Most defensive spells are useless, but some are quite effective against this spell (each one should be considered separately by the DM, on a case by case basis.)
Note that attacking with the Prismatic Blade is NOT considered a melee attack, per se, by the archmagistress, so spells like Stoneskin and Fire Shield that defend against melee attacks will not protect against, or respond to, this spell. Likewise, Spell Turning is useless, as this spell is not considered to be hurled at, per se, the target being. Sorta the best of both worlds, for the archmagistress, here, in terms of overcoming defensive magics, psionics, and other defenses.
A Prismatic Blade can be whittled down in the same way as a Prismatic Sphere, by the seven appropriate spells cast directly at it (they must be cast for the specific purpose of destroying the blade, or they have no effect.) In the case of a Prismatic Blade, these seven spells need not be cast in any exact order, unlike with Prismatic Sphere. As each magic (color) of the Blade is destroyed, it's potency to cause harm is reduced by that much.
A Rod of Cancellation will automatically destroy a Prismatic Blade upon touching it, without suffering harm. An Anti-Magic Shell has a 50% chance of repelling the Blade, but if this roll fails the Anti-Magic Shell is destroyed as a Free Action for the archmagistress, who may in the same round attack those within with all her normally allowed attacks. (If the roll succeeds, the Prismatic Blade is not destroyed or suppressed: it simply cannot be taken into the Anti-Magic Shell at all. That much magical force cannot co-exist with anti-magical forces. If somehow a Prismatic Blade IS forced into an Anti-Magic Shell, and that Shell is for some reason not instantaneously dispelled, the two opposing forces will destroy each other in a titantic explosion of greater than one kiloton in force.)

After each successful strike with the Blade against the target by the archmagistress, the DM must determine where the target was struck. Items in those areas or covering those areas of the target must make Item Saves versus Disintegration thrice, and then Item Saves versus Dragon's Breath once, or be destroyed. If they succeed in all of those Saves, they must then make Item Saves versus Disintegration or be petrified, then make Item Saves versus Disintegration or be sent to a random plane.
In other words, any items carried and/or worn struck by the Prismatic Blade are destroyed. It is the DM's say on which items suffer the grevious misfortune of being struck by this colossal magic.
Whether the target succeeds or does not succeed in his own Saves has no effect on the fate decreed for his items. The DM is the final arbiter here.

A Prismatic Blade will blind any creature (even those looking at it from the Ethereal or Astral Planes) under 8 character levels, for 20 to 80 turns. This effect occurs regardless of how far away those creatures are standing, and occurs instantly no matter how brief their peek at the Prismatic Blade was. If the light from a Prismatic Blade is reflected (by, say, a mirror) those looking at the reflection will also be blinded.
The archmagistress may shutter the Prismatic Blade, so that it emits only a merely brilliant light (it still blinds onlookers normally, including her fellow party members.)
Otherwise, in it's full glory, the Prismatic Blade will light up the surroundings with light so bright that everything for miles will be enveloped in a chalky white brilliance. To onlookers standing within several miles, the mere sun will be seem to be overwhelmed by this colossal magic alight in their world. 40 miles away at midday, a bright glow will be evident on the horizon, as long as the Prismatic Blade remains. If it is nighttime, night will turn to brillant day for 10 miles in all directions from the Prismatic Blade, and a beacon of light will be visible for 100 miles to onlookers. The night sky will be mildly aglow 200 miles away, dimming out the stars. A tiny, bright glow will be visible even to observers on the planet's moons.
It goes without saying this is an Attention Getter. If the archmagistress really wants to send a signature of power to every person across a good part of the entire nation, this is the way to do it.

Then again, just being an archmagistress is an attention getter, and life for her is never going to be simple, or easy, or dull ... however much she might want it to be so.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

PIERCE ANY SHIELD (Metamagic, Incantation, Alteration) 3rd Edition
9TH LEVEL (From the 2E Cult of the Dragon Sourcebook)

Range: Self - Components: V, S, M - Duration: 1 turn (1 minute)
Casting Time: 1 standard action - Area of Effect: See below - Saving Throw: None

In a symbolic gesture, this spell produces a lance of Pure Magic (visible as an actual lance of white brilliance under a Detect Magic spell) which is fired at the target when the archmagistress casts her next spell, the energies of that spell roiling and boiling around the lance.
The material component for Pierce Any Shield is a silver spike or knife, reinforcing this symbolism.

In actuality, this spell rearranges Reality. It rearranges Reality to render the target creature helpless to the next spell cast by the archmagistress, Reality being neatly and precisely disassembled and reassembled as it pleases her to effect this helplessness.
The Reality in question does not get a Saving Throw, Spell Resistance, Divine Intervention, or any other intervention. No, the Reality - the hapless, outraged Reality - gets no appeal at all. Afterwards, it has no recourse to revenge against the archmagistress that rearranged it, there is no D&D-style Paradox effect (ala Mage the Ascension), and to make a long story short the archmagistress can get away with remaking Reality in this way as often as it pleases her with repeated castings of this spell.
Such is the nature of 9th level spells. They do not merely call on Reality: they remake Reality to suit the archmagistress. And if Reality doesn't LIKE being remade, too bad.

After this spell is cast and Reality remade, the archmagistress has one turn (1 minute) to cast the spell to be piggybacked on the Pierce Any Shield. This must be the first spell she casts after she casts Pierce Any Shield (unless a Wish is used to further change the rules.)
The piggybacked spell can be any spell in the archmagistresses' repetoire, from 1st through 12th level.
If the archmagistress does not cast another spell within 10 rounds of casting this spell, the Pierce Any Shield spell is wasted, and Reality returns itself to normal, the white lance of magic dissipating.

The hapless target is subject to an Autokill effect, from the piggybacked spell.
NO defense of 1st through 9th level will halt the incoming piggybacked spell. Even spells that specifically state they will stop ANY AND ALL spells, spell-like effect, psionic effects, and anything and everything else (such as Transforming Tune, Prismatic Sphere, and powerful versions of Mantle, among others) will be useless. Even the Wish spell is useless: no wording of a Wish spell will stop the piggybacked spell from fully affecting the recipient (although a target could use a Wish to get out of there before the piggybacked spell goes off!)
This applies to all spell-like effects, psionic effects, and other effects of 9th level or less. They will all be useless against the alteration in Reality effected by the Pierce Any Shield, all crumble at the touch of the white lance of magic.

Spell Resistance shatters as Reality is torn asunder and remade. Counterspelling works IF it is cast the round the Pierce Any Shield is cast (by halting the Pierce Any Shield spell itself) - otherwise, Counterspelling is useless against the piggybacked spell. Damage Resistance fails. Spell Turning is shredded and dissipates without aiding the target. Spell Absorption becomes a joke - very humorous for the archmagistress as the hapless target is doomed without hope or appeal.
Even the invincible force known as Spellfire fails - the Spellfire Wielder is affected by the spell, cannot block, redirect, or absorb it, and thus the Mighty are - indeed - Truly Fallen, when a Pierce Any Shield spell is cast.
Trying to use Anti-Magic Shell, or like anti-magic effects, or psionics that duplicate anti-magic effects, of 9th level or less against Pierce Any Shield is foolish. The white lance blasts right through the Shell and all other such effects (it doesn't even down them!) and proceeds to wipe the smug grin off the target's face, as it wipes the target out of existence on the mortal Plane.
The various 3rd Edition Feats and special abilities of 9th level or less (Feats of less than Epic Level in power) are all useless against Pierce Any Shield, regardless of text stating otherwise. Epic Feats, Epic Spells, and psionic abilities might - or might not - save the target, as the DM decides.
Incorporeality is no defense. Being Out of Phase is no defense, unless the Phase effect is 10th level or greater. Being in a Rope Trick or Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion offers no protection, since these spells are under 9th level: the piggybacked spell nicely and neatly enters the extra-dimensional space and affects the chosen target within anyways. (Being in a Bag of Holding or Mirror of Life Trapping are equally useless as the piggybacked spell enters the extra-dimension space created by the item and affects the target normally.) Being FULLY on the Astral or Ethereal Plane just might save the target creature ... but then again, it might not. The DM decides on a case by case basis, since Pierce Any Shield warps Reality to a very extreme extent.
Rods of Cancellation and Absorption, and the effects of any other magical items short of artifacts and relics, will NOT stop the incoming piggybacked spell, not protect the target in any way, regardless of how the text describes they might normally grant protection.

Beings normally immune to certain types of attacks retain that immunity. Reality is not so warped they lose innate immunities. A red dragon is still immune to heat spells. A white pudding is still immune to cold. Undead are still immune to sleep magic. Intellect Devourers retain their immunity to many kinds of spells. Nilbogs still gain hit points from taking damage, instead of losing hit points. Characters with particular immunities granted by magic or otherwise, retain those immunities.

So what might save the target?
If the target could warp a Sphere of Annihilation so it completely surrounded him (without touching him, obviously) that would halt the piggybacked spell.
The target could RUN. Run, real fast and real far. If the archmagistress is not careful, the target might be out of range of her next spell (the Pierce Any Shield does not augment range or other attributes of the piggybacked spell.) Teleporting out of there immediately, or Worldwalking away, are good options. Contingency might work ... or it might work as the target is killed by the piggybacked spell. Then the target's dead by will be whisked away to the designated Safe Place, but the target will still be dead (in other words, Contingency isn't a good defense.)
Quickly jumping through a Gate, Teleportation Circle or Well of Worlds might save the target. A hasty Plane Shift might save the target. A hurried Dimension Door might place the target out of range of the piggybacked spell.
Or, perhaps, the target could try to disrupt the archmagistress's attempt to cast the piggybacked spell, or hope someone else does. Sort of an All or Nothing Proposition, since failure means certain death.
True 10th level spells (not Epic spells, or True Dweomers, or Athian 10th level Psionic Enchantments, but TRUE 10th level spells ala the Arcana Age) will protect a creature from a Pierce Any Shield, if such protection is a specific part of their domain.
That's a big if. Pierce Any Shield is not daunted or thwarted by the invincible might of 40th level wizards anymore than it is daunted by the might of 0 level wizards - it tends to kill either wizard with equal ease. If a powerful spellcasting or psionic target wants to survive this spell, he had better use his brains to protect himself, while he still has brains to use.

Fortunately, the target is allowed a Saving Throw against the piggybacked spell, IF the piggybacked spell normally allows a Saving Throw.
Even then, the target suffers a - 5 to his Saving Throw as the Pierce Any Shield warps Reality to weaken his innate defenses.
And of course, it is ALMOST CERTAIN the archmagistress will follow the Pierce Any Shield with an Autokill Spell that normally allows no Saving Throw, so ... well ... if the target creature has no other recourse, perhaps immediate surrender and prostration, and begging for mercy will help?
If the target was (as is likely) a snooty, arrogant, snide being that previously informed the archmagistress of her certain doom, or enslavement, or imprisonment, at his hands, such mercy might be displayed ... in most interesting and unique ways.

Pierce Any Shield augments a Wish spell DRAMATICALLY if that Wish is the piggybacked spell.
The actual power of the Wish is not increased, but certain limitations on it's use are momentarily cancelled. These limitations have to do with play balance and fairness: both are considered thrown out the window, as the Pierce Any Shield warps Reality (and the Wish warps Reality even further.)
For example, the archmagistress could Wish the target to be immediately and permanently incapacitated, and to die slowly and horrible pain.
In THIS case, the Wish would work ABSOLUTELY as the archmagistress desired, in word and in spirit. In addition, any vague areas - where the archmagistress didn't state exact conditions - are resolved employing the imagination of the archmagistress, or if that isn't sufficient, her subconscious desires (in other words, the player gets to specify, down to the last detail, exactly what happens to the target, how it happens, when it happens, why it happens, etc., etc., etc., ad infinitum.)
And finally, NO harmful side effects from the Wish EVER accrue to the archmagistress if she employs the Wish immediately after the casting of a Pierce Any Shield. Reality is altered, to ensure that the archmagistress is FULLY protected from the baneful side effects of Wishes. This protection extends indefinitely into the future.

Anyone contemplating fighting the phaerimm should know that they ALL have this spell, they ALL are archmages with multiple 9th level spells memorized, they ALL are supergeniuses who will use this spell in the most devastating way possible, and the phaerimm NEVER have mercy for any target, living, undead, or otherwise.
There are Some Things Better Left Alone in Faerun. The phaerimm are one such Thing.
Even mighty Edena himself, in his full power as a cleric, left well enough alone and never bothered the phaerimm ... although he spent endless hours attempting to device protections against them for himself and those around him he cared about.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

SHAPE CHANGE (Artifice, Geometry, Alteration)
Range: Self - Components: V, S, M - Duration: 10 turns/level
Casting Time: 1 standard action - Area of Effect: The caster - Saving Throw: None

This is truly the Spell of Goodies, if ever there was such a spell. Like other 9th level spells, it remakes reality to suit the whim of the archmagistress.

- This spell enables the archmagistress to assume other shapes.
- Each change of shape takes an instant, and confers no penalty: the archmagistress can take her full action on one round, change shapes, then take her full action next round. She cannot shapeshift more than once per round, however, unless a Wish is used to further alter reality (in such a case, she could then change shapes as a Free Action.)
- Whatever shape the archmagistress takes, it has her Intelligence, and all of her abilities. Whether she can use her assorted Feats, skills, spells, melee capabilities, and so on depends on the form taken (as a general rule, if the form is human, demi-human, or humanoid, the archmagistress can use all her spells, abilities, and other capabilities normally.)
- The archmagistress can choose to merge her items into the new form (in which case they cannot be used) or to leave them on the first shapeshift. In this case, they simply are transported aside, and are not damaged in any way, regardless of the initial form the archmagistress takes. If the archmagistress takes an appropriate form, she can pick up and use her items afterwards (any human, demi-human, or humanoid form would allow this automatically. With other forms, it depends on the form.)

- The archmagistress is granted familiarity with the creature's form assumed, as if she had been that creature all her life. Thus, all Feats, skills, innate spell abilities (such as a dragon's ability to cast verbal only spells, or a phaerimm's ability to cast spells with no components at all) are granted. Exotic vision, exotic hearing, senses not normal to the mage, strange and normally unfamiliar body configurations and parts, multiple arms and legs, and even two or more heads are all familiar and comfortable for the archmagistress.

- The archmagistress gains, basically, ALMOST ALL of the abilities of the creature in question. The exceptions: Spell Resistance, and SOME powers based on the mind, since the mind of the creature is that of the archmagistress (DM's rulings are required, but the DM should always rule in the player's favor, bending over backwards to do so, unless it is patently obvious the power could not be gained. For example, the memorized spells of a phaerimm would not be gained, nor it's 40 levels in wizardry/epic levels. An illithid's psionic abilities would not be gained. However, the archmagistress would gain familiarity with phaerimm and illithid customs and ways, and she would gain illithid telepathy - the spell grants this knowledge and lesser known powers (such as telepathy) to the archmagistress, and this knowledge/these abilities are lost when she changes shapes from illithid/phaerimm to something else. Note that the archmagistress could not become a sage in this way: the spell does not grant large amounts of indepth knowledge and historical knowledge, just general social and personal customs.)
As for abilities that are always gained, these include, but are not limited to:

All physical monster attacks (a dragon's claw, bite, tail, mass (if used as a weapon), breath weapon, etc.)
All innate special abilities (a dragon's wingover, flight, ability to exist for long periods without eating, special diet (eating gems), innate spell abilities, special spell abilities, dragonfear aura, damage reduction, armor class, and of course it's assorted breath weapons. If a tarrasque's shape was assumed, a Sphere of Annihilation would only take a small chunk out of the archmagistress, just as with the normal tarrasque. The archmagistress would gain it's regeneration, the requirement to kill it by dropping it to - 20 and Wishing it dead, and so on.)
All innate weaknesses (if the archmagistress becomes a specter, she can be turned or destroyed by high level clerics.)
All normal and special senses of the being.
All normal and special ways of movement of the being.
All normal and special means of breathing of the being.
All normal and special immunities of the being.
All unique aspects of the being regarding it's existence (partially on two planes, innate to the Outer Planes, etc.)

- The archmagistress needs to know the name of the creature. That is all she needs to know, and she is assumed to know the names of all the creatures in:
All the books, boxed sets, supplements, and other things in OD&D, 1st edition, 2nd edition, 3rd edition, 3.5 edition, all the d20 books/supplements/boxed sets/etc., Hackmaster, Role-Aids, Dragon magazine, Dungeon magazine, Polyhedron magazine, Imagine magazine, White Dwarf magazine, Judges Guild materials, and very likely even creatures from other gaming systems such as Vampire the Masquerade, Warhammer, and Exalted. Exceptions should be truly freakish, since the archmagistress is assumed to be very learned from her years of study and adventuring.

In short, the player can pick up any book in the D&D genre (and more), pick a monster - any monster - and her character will become that monster in every way, with a few exceptions due to the mind extrapolated as favorably towards her as possible by the DM, and in addition her character will retain all her own abilities, Feats, skills, spells, and so on in addition to this.

- The archmagistress can become a mundane object of any sort, from rock to soil to water to a puff of air, or an exotic item such as a bit of Ether, a whiff of the Astral Plane, a ball of Fire or Frost, or the like. Any form of construct (golem, etc.) can be duplicated.

- The archmagistress CANNOT assume the form of a Deity, Demi-Power, or any being of which only one exists in reality (not one per country, or one per continent, or one per world, solar system, galaxy, or even universe: ONE in the multiverse, period. If there are Alternate Realities and alternate versions of this one being exist there, that does not count and the archmagistress still CANNOT assume that form.

There are some other limits on the form assumed:

- The form cannot be larger or heavier than Godzilla (about 1,000 feet tall and/or 1 million tons) or smaller than a quark. No, the archmagistress cannot turn into a Toril-sized dragon and eat the planet for breakfast, nor can she turn into a Black Hole and suck the planet in.
- The form cannot be hotter than 10,000 degrees or colder than absolute zero. No, the archmagistress cannot turn into a billion degree object and with radiant heat fry half the planet of Toril instantly.
- The form can move at any speed. For example, becoming a beam of light would allow the archmagistress to travel at lightspeed. If she can find a creature that can travel faster than light, she can assume that form and travel at faster than light. However, were she to assume a form with mass, she could not even approach the speed of light, since her mass cannot exceed 1 million tons.
- The form cannot be in the form of an explosion. No, the archmagistress cannot become a hydrogen bomb that blows up the whole planet of Toril. Nor, for that matter, a Fireball that does a mere 6d6 points of damage - if the form assumed ALLOWS her to create explosions, THAT is fine. Note that lightning is not considered an explosion: the air rushing away from it is an explosion, but the lightning itself is not. Such interpretation should be used for all situations (for example, the archmagistress could become a hydrogen bomb per se, but could not go off ...)
- The form CANNOT be any sort of worked material. It cannot be a caveman's crude stone knife. It cannot be a sword. It cannot be a suit of armor. It cannot be a house or a castle. It cannot be an arquebus. It cannot be a machine gun, a tank, or a computer. It cannot be the space shuttle or an oil pipeline or an automobile. Taken to extremis, the archmagistress cannot become the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek: the Next Generation.

The material component of Shape Change is a jade circlet worth 5,000 gold pieces (on Krynn, 5,000 steel: on Athas, 5,000 clay: etc.) which cannot be touched, moved, or affected by the archmagistress herself in any way after the Shape Change begins. Others can pick up, protect, destroy, or affect the circlet in any way.
If the circlet is badly damaged or destroyed, the Shape Change spell is instantaneously cancelled (which could prove fatal for the archmagistress.) Otherwise, it shatters of it's own accord when the spell is ended. The shattered remains can be magically repaired, but that particular jade circlet can never again be used as the material component for a Shape Change spell (unless a Wish is used to alter this.)

- The almost Godlike power of Shape Change allows the archmagistress to do many things, but it presents many hazards. Consider:

The archmagistress is outdoors in the middle of a village. She decides to become a million ton rock that crushes the village. This works fine: the village is destroyed. The archmagistress suffers 20d6 of impact damage (or, in 3E, the maximum possible allowed impact damage) as her change in form causes high speed collisions with every building, every other object, and the ground itself.
A clever archmagistress would, of course, render herself immune to mere physical damage through the use of another spell, before attempting this stunt. And of course, destroying villages by becoming million ton rocks attracts a lot of attention, so she had better be prepared when the King sends his finest champions to deal with the threat she poses.

The archmagistress cannot become an explosion, but a fire is not an explosion. So she could become a small fire, and proceed to attempt to torch the village given above. The problem is, how does she move? A normal, small fire cannot move itself ... it spreads through normal means as a fire would spread. She needs to think of a way to become a moving fire: she cannot simply become a normal fire that floats around, since normal fire does not do such things.
Needless to say, if the archmagistress becomes a Fire Elemental, this point is moot.

If the archmagistress becomes a black pudding, she could grow to gigantic proportions as she devours the countryside, and eats villages for breakfast. But she is still limited to the size restriction, regardless of what she eats. And in black pudding form, she cannot cast spells or even see (she can see as a black pudding would see, but not as a human would see.)
The archmagistress is limited to the form assumed: she cannot become a black pudding that has eyes, ears, a nose, and pudding 'legs' and 'arms.' Likewise, she cannot become a normal tree that talks and walks (becoming a treant, however, would grant her both abilities and a lot more.)

The archmagistress could become a beam of light, and travel at lightspeed to some other destination. But, unfortunately, she could not see, hear, smell, or otherwise detect anything at all, since light has no senses.
On the other hand, if Light Elementals exist (a Lightning Elemental, for that matter, would do just fine), then she could become such and travel with all that being's senses and go where she pleased.
OR, the archmagistress could cast OTHER spells priorhand that gave her sight, hearing, touch abilities, and so on BEFORE she cast the Shapechange, so that whatever form she took, she would retain those senses.

The archmagistress can use the Shape Change to gain generic knowledge of locales, and even obtain the brief ability to speak the local languages. She could write down this information for later use, making this spell very useful indeed. For example, she could become a 'generic' Waterhadvian, and learn the local languages, customs, attractions, festivals, religions, generals on the government (she'd learn that mysterious masked, unknown people ruled the city), general laws, and so on. She'd know the general layout of the city streets, the local of prominent inns and bars, shops, the location of the noble district, the location of Castle Waterdeep, the general layout of the harbor, and so on.
But, she would not learn the identity of the Lords of Waterdeep. She would not learn any restricted information, such as passwords, codewords, local magics, the specific way in which the Watchful Order of Protectors worked, the location of Thieve's guilds or their means of operations, the existence of Skullport, or the fact that Khelben and Laeral are Chosen of Mystra. She would not learn of secret faiths, secret languages, secret ways and passages and hideouts, or even knowledge of the upstairs or cellars of common inns, much less the ways of Castle Waterdeep.
Learning 'generic' information is very dangerous, for many cultures are well aware of Shapechange and it's power to accomplish this feat, and they have Contingency spells to protect themselves. In Waterdeep, this Contingency would alert Khelben to the archmagistress's location and situation, and he would likely appear at once, demanding an explanation. In Luruar, Alustriel would appear, friendly but requesting the archmagistress disclose her nature. In Undermountain, Shape Change used in this way would immediately attract the attention of Halaster, with disastrous results. Attempting to become a 'generic' mage of Larloch's necropolis, in order to gain 'generic' information about him and his secret city, would result in a VERY INFURIATED Larloch, who might or might not chase the archmagistress across the Planes to inflict a gruesome death. Obviously, powerful wizardly societies like Halruaa, Thay, and Dambrath, not to mention the phaerimm, sharn, and illithid, are going to know of the attempt to learn 'generic' information about them, and react appropriately.
This is not to say that ALL societies have a defense against this aspect of Shape Change: most do not. And of those that do, not all will be hostile. But the archmagistress who uses Shape Change to learn of foreign lands and foreign ways, should be aware that not all foreign peoples and beings take kindly to unauthorized 'research' into their generic customs and ways.
And remember this knowledge disappears the moment the archmagistress changes her shape. If she becomes a 'generic' member of Menzoberranzan, she'll gain generic information about that city while she remains a 'generic' drow of that city (this generic information is needed, if the archmagistress is to understand the mannerisms and ways of the form assumed - to effectively have been that creature for years and to know all it's ways and procedures for doing things - which is why it is granted.) The moment the archmagistress changes form, she loses ALL knowledge gained, except what was communicated to others and what was written down, and of course what was learned 'normally' through adventuring and communication while in that form.
A Wish cannot 'grant' or 'regrant' generic knowledge from a Shape Change to the archmagistress permanently, but it could prolong the knowledge in the archmagistress's mind for several tens of minutes.
Please note that learning 'generic' knowledge of certain subjects, such as generic knowledge of the Minions of Cthulu and their culture of the Elder Ones, will probably result in permanent insanity for the archmagistress with no saving throw allowed. This insanity will persist indefinitely, even after the generic knowledge is lost.

The archmagistress can become a superpowerful monster, and start destroying the campaign world. Want to be an ancient dragon? She's an ancient dragon. Want to be a tarrasque? She's a tarrasque. Want to be a Minion of Cthulu? She's a Minion of Cthulu. Want to be a specter and start the world's greatest undead plague? She's a specter and can do just that.
If she can withstand physical damage, and has spells to augment her senses, she can probably become one million pound objects and destroy lots of things, then become a quark sized object to hide from infuriated people seeking vengeance.

But ...

Any archmagistress worth her spells would know that such behavior will attract the attention of kings, lords, other archmagistresses and archmages, powerful monsters, extraplanar beings and forces (perhaps Cthulu himself if the form of a Minion of Cthulu is assumed), and the Deities (if Deities exist in the campaign world.)
Yes, the archmagistress CAN use Shape Change to attempt to destroy the entire Campaign World, but the Campaign World is not going to sit idly by and be destroyed. It is going to fight back, and fight back hard.
Historically, some wizards and liches HAVE attempted to use Shape Change to destroy entire regions. Sometimes, they were successful, sometimes not. In every case, however, this destruction provoked a massive war, as the enemies of the wizard fought back for their lands and their lives. Sometimes they won and killed the wizard, sometimes they lost, but they always fought.
So ... it is up to the archmagistress. Will she use this spell to start destroying entire regions? Will she use it in subtle ways? Will she use it otherwise, perhaps even as a tool for studying cultures and mysteries? The answer is: it is up to her.

 

[Soel]

I applaud your efforts here, Edena! These versions make the spells seem like magic again! I can't say I will use them, but who knows? Great work!

 

[the Jester]

Hey Edena, do you actually run your game with these spells like this?

Also, the feminine of archmage is still archmage.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

A sincere thank you, Soel. I REALLY appreciate the compliment.
Notice that the Crunch and the Fluff (as they call them nowadays) are sorta blurred in definition above: some Fluff affects the Crunch as if it were Crunch itself, for example. Some Crunch is also Fluff. It can sorta get messy at times.

The nice thing about the internet and online downloads is that the amount of text is not a problem. Conceivably, an Online Player's Handbook could have very long and detailed descriptions of each spell. (That doesn't mean the player wouldn't get a headache trying to read all that text, but it does mean it would cost WOTC less money per page of spell descriptions.)
With the fantastically escalating cost of paper and tight profit margins in the gaming industry, and page space thus being worth it's weight in gold, spell supplements (and spells in books like the Player's Handbook) in hard copy have to present only the bare bones of the spell, as it were. Just the crunch (as people call it nowadays) and not nearly as much detail concerning the crunch as many DMs and players would want. But, that is the economic reality of the times.

I was trying to bring back the sense of magic, in the spells. The sense of anything can happen, the wonder of it all. That's the kind of thing that enticed me to play Dungeons and Dragons in the first place, back in the 1970s.
So you can believe that I appreciate your compliment, that I brought back the magic for you! I do appreciate your words. Thank you!

Yours Sincerely
Edena_of_Neith

-

Hey there, Jester.

I tried to present the spells in their 'maximum' possible stature: that is to say, at their most powerful theoretically; based on the most favorable extrapolations from earlier editions, using the strongest versions of the spells from the older editions.
Obviously, no DM is required to allow these spells in the forms shown above. And I doubt most DMs would allow the spells as described above in their campaigns.

In my case, I do allow these spells as shown above.
My way of 'balancing' the overwhelming power of the spells above is to give the same spells to NPCs and monsters. Also, the mage has to actually acquire the spells, which is oftentimes quite hard to do (Rule: Just because it exists, doesn't automatically mean You Can Have It. Hehe )
So yeah, a mage could have that nifty Prismatic Blade that autokilled anything in existence on one hit. Unfortunately for her, so could the dragon. The dragon could simply shapeshift to elven form, create her own Prismatic Blade, and the battle would be on (of course, the dragon - being a dragon - would have plenty of OTHER spells ready, plus allies, plus traps, plus insundry other things baneful to the party.)
Also, the casting of spells of such power attracted attention. When you go around blasting entire towns and great champions (and villains) out of existence, the authorities take offense. And when King Azoun sends the War Wizards of Cormyr after you, or Manshoon and Fzoul send the full might of the Zhentarim after you, you have a bit of a problem. This does not mean you are dead, but it does mean you have a major military conflict on your hands. Ah, the Joys of Consequences ...

In short, I as a DM did not say No. But oftentimes my campaign world said No, or tried to say No.
And sometimes, the lady mage conquered all her foes, and then informed the world that the answer was Yes. And the world had to live with that answer ... for awhile, at least!

Actually, campaigns above 9th level were rare. Campaigns above 21st level were unique: I only played in one, in my gaming career.
So most mages were stuck with spells of 4th level and below (no autokill on Chromatic Orb for them, since they were below 10th level!) The powerful spells of 6th level and higher were a rare sight, as far as the characters casting them. I almost never saw player characters hurling around 8th and 9th level spells.
We did encounter NPCs quite often who attacked us with spells of 6th level and higher. This led to quite a few fried characters, quite a few Run for your Life situations, and a lot of intense brainstorming as to how we would defeat the enemy wizard with our combined powers (they never listened when I said: Leave the nice lich alone, and he'll leave us alone ... or do we really want to spend the rest of eternity serving him as faithful zombie slaves?)

The term archmagistress comes from Ed Greenwood. You will find this term used repeatedly in his spells, which can be found in all manner of Forgotten Realms supplements and articles in Dragon Magazine (and if I may say so, I thought his spells were very creative, ingenious, and oftentimes downright diabolical! )
I realize that archmage is the generic term. But since archmagistress has so often been used by an author I respect, and seems to have been the usual colloqualism for the Forgotten Realms for many years, I use the term now. I personally think archmagistress is a nice word, to describe a lady of eloquent and lofty stature and power, learning and wisdom.

Yours Truly
Edena_of_Neith